Diamondbacks, Angels Considered Favorites For Garza

Matt Garza's name has begun to pick up a bit more this week, with the Diamondbacks and Twins both having been linked to the right-hander. Here's the latest on Garza…

Per MLB.com's Steve Gilbert, D-Backs GM Kevin Towers attempted to throw cold water on the idea that his club is the frontrunner for Garza. "I don't think so, no," Towers said. "I wouldn't say that we're that close on anything right now at this point in time on the free-agent front."

Earlier Updates:

There's a growing feeling among executives that Garza will sign soon, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, who tweets that the D-Backs and Angels are viewed as the favorites.

According to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link), however, the Angels aren't expecting to sign anyone today, so it doesn't appear Garza is close to signing with them.

If Garza agrees to a deal by week's end, it doesn't look like it'll happen at the Winter Meetings. Garza's agent has left Orlando, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, who tweets that the Twins "know the price" for the righty.

Heyman also mentions the Twins and adds the Angels to the mix of teams interested in Garza (via Twitter), noting that there's still nothing close.

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick also hears that the Angels are in the mix for Garza, noting that despite a sizable asking price, the lack of draft pick compensation attached to Garza is a plus for the Halos and other interested parties (Twitterlinks).

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that the Diamondbacks are definitely talking to Garza, but they still have a lot of work to do.

ESPN's Jayson Stark hears that Matt Garza's camp is telling interested parties that he could sign within the next 24 to 48 hours (Twitter link). There's been a lot of Diamondbacks buzz, Stark adds.

Colby and Harrison are question marks due to health. I like Ogando better in a relief role. Hopefully Tepesch is solid. Just seemed like the F.O. was pretty high on Garza before, and he would keep the rotation (and bullpen) deep if someone goes down to injury.

Did you see the way Garza pitched in Arlington? Didn’t exactly overwhelm anybody. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Angels jump in Amanda sign Garza–Arte is probably getting antsy to spend some big money and make a splash.

I’ll give you Vargas, but I still don’t like him as a 3, which is what he was. Regardless, he’s gone now. The Angels needed at least three pitchers this off-season, in my opinion. They’ve got two in Santago and Skaggs. Getting Garza would be solid.

Perhaps. If they get Garza, I’m sure Richards will have a chance to compete for a spot in the rotation, but I’m not sure he’d get it. If Skaggs pitches well out of Spring Training, then the Angels would have to give him the spot. He has a much higher ceiling.

We’ll have to agree to disagree on Richards. He had a 4.18 ERA as a starter, pitched to an ERA+ of 91 on the season and if you take out his July numbers – which included 6 relief appearances 1 start – he would have had a 4.56 ERA on the season. I don’t see how that would constitute proving himself.

The reports that came out every time the Cubs were working on an extension with Garza. Just a quick glance at Baseball Reference tells me that Garza’s closest comparison among active pitchers is Anibal Sanchez, and he got 5 years $88 million a year ago. Given that Garza is healthy and has no draft pick compensation attached to him, I’d say he approaches that figure. Just a guess, though…

I’d ask for more money to pitch in Chicago too. Love the stadium as a fan and as a hitter, but pitchers must hate it. Garza is from the Anaheim area, may get a discount.. but i don’t think he’s a discount sort of guy.

Why would pitchers hate it more than any other ballpark? This isn’t 1960, and Wrigley isn’t considered a small park anymore. Sure, the wind blows out at Wrigley from time-to-time, but it blows in just as much.

Considering that the report updated to say the DBacks are the favorites to land Garza, let’s compare the two parks. Chase Field has outranked Wrigley in Park Factor four of the past six years with last year being the only year in that stretch that Chase Field even ranked outside the top-10. Meanwhile, Wrigley ranked outside the top-10 in two of Garza’s three seasons in Chicago, including 23rd in 2011 and 13th in 2012.

He’s in line to get about 5 years at 15MM per. I don’t know if I’d want to give that much money to a guy who may fit in as a 3rd starter in the Yankees rotation. But since he’s not tied to a draft pick, he may seem a little more intriguing to other teams.

I guess that makes sense, Phil Hughes got 8MM per for 3 years. I’m assuming that Trout has 4 more years left under team control after his cup of coffee in 2011 and the to succeeding seasons. I’d say once the Hambone is off the books at the end of his deal, I think the Angels will look to lock up Trout for around the same AAV but more years.

As a phillies fan I would like Trout to come to philly. Which is very possible that he does. He’s a due hard phillies fan who grew up in Millville NJ. Already been interviewed down here saying his dream is to play for Phillies. So the Angels won’t have to worry bout locking up Trout unless they do for arb years

You should take a look at his career splits by ballpark and sort them by games started, or innings pitched. I knew he’s good, but even I was astounded at how good his numbers are in AL East ballparks. Take those numbers to a pitcher friendly park like Angels Stadium, and they could possibly translate into dominance that could match that of Jered Weaver’s over the last 4 years.

It all has to do with what he did in Tampa. He pitched to a 3.86 ERA in three seasons there, put up an 8.5 WAR in baseball’s toughest division and seemingly took his game to another level during the 2008 ALCS. Most insiders thought he could become an Ace once he left that division, and even though it hasn’t happened, a lot of people still see him as a top of the rotation starter who could potentially dominate a postseason series because of his “history.” Sure, he’s a solid pitcher – but when it comes to the perception of him being an upper-echelon talent, it’s not the case. Some people just have a tough time seeing past perceptions.

I see a close resemblance to John Lackey circa 2005-2009. But thats on the surface. Garza has pitched in hitters parks his career, although Wrigley does fluctuate. Lackey was in his prime in one of the more pitcher friendly ballparks. So one could argue that Garza pitching half his games at a park like the Big A could bring out a better performance than Lackey in his prime, and would bring out Garza’s ace potential that he’s never quite reached. Still a very good starting pitcher to have, especially for around Anibal Sanchez/CJ Wilson money and no draft pick compensation. I think we still have yet to see what Garza is really capable of.

I bet the Angels are in on him hard. Dipoto is trying to make moves quickly and he is said to be “aggressively pursuing” SPs. Garza, from Northern CA, would bring some life and fire to our aging team, too.

With it being so early, wouldn’t surprise me if his asking price is in the 70+ million range. I think that’s too rich for the Twins.

I’d love him at 4/60, but that feels way too low at this point and the fact that there’s no pick attached makes me definitely believe 70+ million. I’d be surprised otherwise. I think that’s an overpay. I guess we shall see.

Unless they can get him at a reasonable price then I’d be OK with the Halos passing on Garza. The guy is a FA and based on what other FA SP have gotten I doubt Garza is going to settle for less. Don’t think he’s worth it.

Garza is a great pitcher who had some injuries that hurt his overall momentum. He’ll get back on track and be a quality arm to throw out there every 5th day. Any team will get a nice solid starter by signing Matt Garza.

Wish the Tanaka situation would clear up. If he wont be posted I would like Angels to after Garza, if he will be posted they need to save their money for a bidding war on Tanaka. Either way LAA needs one more quality SP who is not linked to a draft pick compensation.

I could see him getting $100M depending on the teams involved, and I’m sure many will be with the new posting system. I don’t know if I’d want the Angels to give him that deal though. The last thing we need is another risky, expensive, long-term contract. But in our situation I guess you’d have to if Garza goes somewhere else.

But do you get my point? Trading Trumbo doesn’t mean they can’t trade Kendrick/Aybar. They’re looking to shed weight on the diamond in lieu of bring in better SPs than guys like Blanton. If they really are pursuing Tanaka/Garza, Kendrick/Aybar are in play to be traded.

His “camp” saying he could sign in the next 24-48 hours translates to this. “We don’t have 1 good offer out there, and with Hughes and Kazmir getting what they got we want a ton more so pony up teams!”

As long as the Angels don’t have to commit too many years to him, I think he’d definitely be someone they should bid on. He’d round out their rotation nicely. I think Weaver-Wilson-Garza-Santiago-Skaggs sounds pretty good to me. You’ve got depth in Richards and a couple others I’m sure. Your 1-3 there can all provide 200+ IP with good peripherals and some swing-and-miss stuff. Then your 4-5 are two younger lefties with the capability to improve (especially Skaggs) and move forward, but if you are only expecting 4-5 production from them, then that’s what you should expect.

Garza is perfect for either the Angels or Rangers, and if the Rangers (or any team) are concerned about his performance with them, it was one terrible outing in Tampa that ballooned his ERA a bit down the stretch. Big bargain for whoever signs him.

Rangers need to be in on Tanaka if the posting ceiling is now $20 mil! I like Garza, he wasn’t good in Arlington but Cliff Lee wasn’t either until the Postseason. It is very hard to switch teams midseason as a starter and have immediate success. It isn’t impossible, but it is usually decent or non factor. FA rotation help is usually overpriced, and over his career I like Garza, but someone is going to overpay here. I bet it is the Halos!

The one thing that concerns me about Garza is his FB velocity and K/9 have been dropping since 2011. This could all be due to his 2012 injury as it often taken some time to regain FB velocity but it could also be indicative of a far worse decline. Still I’d rather the Angels take a risk on Garza than Santana or Jimenez.